The NFL is in full flow and picks for the weekends are coming thick and fast. We’ve already seen some incredible results over the last few game weeks and it’s almost certain to throw up some more thrillers over the next few weeks. If you’re looking to make some picks to devastate your mates, though, it’s important you consider the following to ensure you get a huge advantage.

Don’t Rely on Your Hunches

Just because you’ve been successful with your hunches in the past, doesn’t mean you should follow that method of picking games again. Don’t rely on hunches. Instead, analyse every game (if you have the time) and all the players to see what you’re guaranteed to get from the future. Of course, this doesn’t always play into your hands either, but it’s a sure-fire way of getting an instant advantage over friends and the bookmakers.

Never Count Out the Underdogs

Punters around the world always rely on the favourites to ensure their picks are fruitful, and that gives you the opportunity to take advantage. Just because the point spread markets don’t look likely doesn’t mean it isn’t going to happen. In fact, most of the time they do happen and many people don’t base their picks off this, which is why you should. It’ll give you better odds if you’re betting on www.Toals.com for real money, but it’ll give you a much better chance over your friends if you’re in a fantasy league.

Make Your Picks Early

This is especially important if you’re betting for real money – making picks for fun doesn’t necessarily come into play here unless one of your picks has a player injured in the week through training, etc. Making your picks early can give you a great advantage in terms of odds and more profit. Odds need to open somewhere and, usually, they’re quite soft when they do. This gives you the chance to get your picks in early for a much higher profit margin, especially when it comes to point spreads and the like. Many punters prefer to only bet when the odds tighten up slightly, but you’re bound to get poorer odds if you’re going to wait until a day before the game takes place.

Find the Consistency

After a few game weeks have passed, it’s time to find a club that has built a bit of consistency. We’re not talking here about how they have won five out of five games; we’re talking about the teams that have made the point spreads but have lost or won. Then, we’re also talking about the teams that are consistently winning but aren’t making the point spreads. It’s hard to find consistency here, but it can be done and it’s a sure-fire way to make some accurate picks.

It’s all about research when it comes to making the right picks. If you don’t spend time doing sufficient research, you’re going to end up with poor (or very lucky) picks that aren’t going to do your fantasy football leagues or profit-seeking efforts any favours whatsoever. Consider the above tips, get your picks in early, look at the underdogs, and never rely on your hunches – you’ll find picking your times much more fruitful.